Maximilian Götz is a German racing driver who most recently spent two seasons in the ADAC GT Masters with Mercedes customer team HTP Motorsport.

Previously, he won the Blancpain Sprint Series with the same team in 2014 and the ADAC GT title with MS Racing in 2012. Between two stints with HTP Motorsport, Götz spent two seasons (2015 and 2016) with Mercedes in the DTM.

Maximilian Götz in 2017

Formula BMW ADAC champion in 2003

Maximilian Götz was born on February 4, 1986, in Ochsenfurt, Bavaria. Götz began his career in karting as a 10-year-old and until 2001 he won two national titles in different classes, which was a promising start.

Maxi confirmed his talent in 2002 when he became the Formula BMW ADAC runner-up and was honored with Best Rookie Award. The following year, he won the title scoring wins in six races and finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Maxi was also named ADAC Junior Motor Racing Driver of the Year.

Struggling in Formula 3

The next step in Gotz’s career was racing in the Formula 3 Euro Series. During four seasons, Maximilian didn't achieve great results. Driving for many teams, he could not score a single win and only once he managed to step to the podium. It was in 2005 when he finished 3rd in the last round at Hockenheim.

Maximilian Gotz during his Formula 3 days

Parallel to his Formula 3 duties, Gotz acted as a test driver of Ferrari FXX at Maranello and at Nurburgring in 2006, while in 2007 he competed in the International Formula Masters, driving for ISR Racing and finishing 10th overall.

Switch to sports cars

In 2009, Gotz left the single-seaters and began sports cars racing career competing in the launch season of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. Driving for Team Holzer in his only season in the series, Maxi finished 7th overall.

ADAC GT Masters was a new opportunity

The next stop in Gotz’s career was a fast-growing ADAC GT Masters. He got the chance in the third round of the season at Hockenheim and his debut wasn’t impressive. Driving the s-Berg Racing’s Alpina B6 GT3, he finished 12th in the first race and retired in the second.

Maximilian Gotz, MS Racing, Mercedes SL AMG GT3, 2011

In 2011, Maxi started a season with Maximilian Mayer, driving a Ferrari 458 Italia and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, but after the second round of the season, he moved to MS Racing until the end of the year, still driving a Mercedes. For the first time, he notched a podium finish in ADAC GT Masters, taking the 3rd place in the final race at Hockenheim.

Maximilian Götz wins 2012 ADAC GT Masters title

After he has finished 20th in 2011, nobody considered Gotz as a possible title contender in 2012. Driving for kfzteile24 MS Racing alongside Sebastian Asch, Maxi grabbed the title in a pretty tight season. He and Asch scored seven podiums before the last round at Hockenheim where they finally won and secured the championship trophy, only 14 points ahead of Daniel Keilwitz and Diego Alessi.

More duties with Mercedes in 2013

The following year he couldn’t defend ADAC GT Masters crown, but still, he did a good job. Driving Polarweiss Racing’s Mercedes alongside Maximilian Buhk, Gotz won the race at Nurburgring and finished third in the final standings.

The Ochsenfurt-born debuted in the Blancpain Endurance Series and was very successful, finishing the season as a vice-champion. Driving for HTP Racing, he won 24 Hours of Spa and 1000 km of Nurburgring driving alongside Bernd Schneider and Buhk.

Maximilian Gotz, 24 Hours of Spa

Finally, thanks to his fine form, Maximilian got an opportunity to test with DTM Mercedes at Jerez Circuit and soon he became a part of the popular championship.

2014 Blancpain Sprint Series champion

In 2014, Gotz’s stream of good results continued. He stayed with HTP Motorsport and won the title in the Blancpain Sprint Series. Buhk was his partner again but a Belgian Nico Verdonck was a substitute in one race. Maxi scored three wins, at Nogaro, Algarve, and Zolder. He had other five podiums and was crowned as a new champion.

Gotz won the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series crown

He also continued to race in ADAC GT Masters with HTP Motorsport, alongside Buhk and later with Luca Stolz. The beginning of the year was excellent as they won the races at Oschersleben and Lausitzring, but later his performances dropped a bit, so he finished 5th overall which was a good result.

Next stop in Gotz's career was DTM

As a well-experienced and already successful driver, Maximilian Gotz was named as the driver of Mucke Motorsport, one of Mercedes’ teams in DTM. The beginning in the new championship was relatively hard and Gotz needed time to settle. He scored his first points in the DTM in the 10th race of the season, at Red Bull Ring. Later he picked some points at Oschersleben and Nurburgring and took 22nd place overall, with only Lucas Auer and Adrien Tambay being behind him in the standings.

Gotz was sent to Team HWA for the 2016 campaign, but things didn't improve significantly. He picked points occasionally and finished the season 20th in the final standings.

Maximilian Götz spent two seasons in the DTM

Return to ADAC GT Masters in 2017

In 2017, Götz rejoined HTP Motorsport in the ADAC GT Masters, sharing the #84 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Patrick Assenheimer. They were on a podium once, at Sachsenring, finishing 16th in the points. Götz also participated with other Mercedes customer teams in other GT competitions (Blancpain GT Series, VLN, 24H Series). At Spa 24 Hours, he finished 12th overall and the winner in Pro-Am class with Black Falcon.

In 2018, Götz stayed in the German-based GT competition, sharing the #47 HTP Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Markus Pommer and fighting for the title until the last round but a crash in the last race prevented him to win the title. They finished fourth in the points.